The question, more an expression of incredulous surprise, came from a high-ranking opposing team executive.
“Is that right? Brook Lopez has one double-double? ONE? What the [bleep] has happened?”
That’s what the Nets, coach Avery Johnson and Lopez himself would like to know.
Entering today’s game in Newark against the Celtics — the 21st game of the season for the Nets, who have Devin Harris (left knee strain, missed two games) listed as “probable” to play — Lopez is having a down season in virtually every area. The 50.2 percent career shooter is shooting 43.8 percent. The 8.1 career rebounder is getting 6.2. He’s scoring more, but his blocks, steals and assists also are down.
And, oh yeah, he has one double-double in 20 games, landing his first in Game 18 but needing triple overtime to accomplish it. He had 18 his first season, a Nets rookie center record, getting his first that season in Game 10. He had 33 last season, producing one in the season’s first game.
So what has happened to Lopez, who was called out by Johnson after Friday’s overtime loss at Charlotte, in which he had two rebounds, none defensive, in 39 minutes? Several scouts who regularly take in Nets games presented some criticisms. But all were in agreement Lopez has the tools and the assets to be a “foundation player,” as one scout put it.
“From his rookie year, he’s gotten worse,” said one scout. “I watch him warm up and am amazed. He goes less than half speed, doesn’t take ‘game’ shots.”
Another offered, “His rebounding, that is the most disappointing part. He’s just not rebounding forcefully.”
Still another took issue with Lopez’s shots, noting “too many are off balance” and an additional problem “is where he’s shooting from; I love the fact they force-feed him the ball, but he needs to get better looks.”
A horrible game in Orlando Nov. 5 against Dwight Howard, who appeared to crawl into Lopez’s head and stay there, appeared to be the low point. Until Friday, when Johnson bashed his center for playing through overtime in a loss to Charlotte and not getting a single defensive rebound and also losing a key free-throw rebound near the end of the regulation. Lopez committed the same sin in Sacramento, another winnable game that became one of the Nets’ 14 defeats.
“Since it’s the second time,” Johnson said, “hopefully it eats at you and you lose sleep over it and you can’t eat over it, so the next time you’re in this situation, it really means something to you.”